Trump is asking the Supreme Court to allow him to end birthright citizenship and it is unconstitutional.
The Trump administration has recently asked the Supreme Court to intervene and allow a version of his executive order to ban birthright citizenship. The 14th Amendment states that “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside." The Trump administration wants to clarify that those who were born to illegal immigrant parents or those who were here legally but on temporary non-immigrant visas are not citizens by birthright. Trump’s plan would get rid of our nation’s 250-year history of citizenship by birth. So far no court has sided with the Trump administration though multiple district courts have blocked it from taking effect.
So far around two dozen states and several individuals and groups have sued over this issue arguing that the executive order is both unconstitutional and unprecedented. The states are also arguing that the 14th Amendment guarantees citizenship to those born on US soil.
Cody Wofsy, deputy director of the ACLU Immigrants’ Rights Project stated, “The president’s executive order is outrageously illegal and cruel, and it should not be applied to a single baby in this country,” and I couldn’t agree more. The 14th Amendment clearly states that all people born in the US no matter the status of their parents are legally US citizens. The reason why this is also an unpopular opinion is that the Supreme Court ruled in favor of birthright citizenship 127 years ago in the case of U.S. vs. Wong Kim Ark. This just further shows why we need to not let this pass as in the past 127 years this decision has been untouched.
Conservatives though have taken a more narrow view of the 14th Amendment’s language specifically the phrase “subject to the jurisdiction.” Some conservatives claim that people who are illegally in the U.S. are not fully “subject to the jurisdiction” of the U.S. and are instead under the jurisdiction of their own native country. So overall they claim that children born to undocumented immigrants should not be granted birthright citizenship because the parents are not considered to be subject to U.S. jurisdiction. However, this is false as the historical interpretation of the 14th amendment has stated that anyone born in the U.S. is automatically a citizen in the case U.S. vs Wong Kim Ark as I stated earlier.
6 comments:
I appreciate that you looked and both conservative and liberal sources to form your argument and see both sides. It seems pretty clear that the order is unconstitutional, and even though the supreme court is leaning conservative, I'm pretty sure they wouldn't let this happen. Trump would have to add a new amendment to constitutionally do this, which I feel would be pretty much impossible right now. Also, Im a little confused on your header. How does one ask the Supreme Court to do something? Wouldn't there need to be a trial for the court to determine whether or not this order is constitutional?
I like the same things about this article that you do---I also believe that the current Supreme Court will not rule in favor of this blatantly unconstitutional act despite conservative justices holding a large majority. Recent statement by Chief justice John Roberts criticizing the Trump administration's treatment of federal judges yield hope for this matter and related ones.
I believe that in "asking" the Supreme Court to ban birthright citizenship, Trump is just letting them know the executive branch's opinion in the matter, as there will be trials coming up in the future. As Tyler said, there are many states, groups, and individuals suing on the basis that this order is unconstitutional, and if it gets up to the Supreme Court, they might take into consideration which side the president supports, being that he was recently elected - momentum and all that. However, I think that part of all this posturing is just a publicity stunt to make clear which side Trump is on and put pressure on the Supreme Court Justices.
While Trump has demonstrated a mass wielding of power by the executive branch that is somehow going unchecked, I find the volatility of his decision to attempt to limit or kill birthright citizenship is one that may be outright blocked. As said in this article, the supreme court hasn't taken any cases related to birthright citizenship for 127 years, and even this heavily conservative court hasn't made any comments on this famous and deeply important amendment. Restricted or removing this amendment is an act that would completely uproot a core ideal of America, being a melting pot of a vast variety of cultures that comes together to form the American identity. If birthright citizenship goes away, so does that value. Overall, I doubt this outlandish idea will pass based on the strong blocking from courts, the congress, and the lack of response from the Supreme court.
I think what Trump is trying to do by ending birthright citizenship is wrong and goes against the Constitution. The 14th Amendment clearly says that anyone born in the U.S. is a citizen, no matter where their parents are from. This has been the law for over 100 years, and trying to change it now just seems unfair. It feels like this is more about targeting immigrants than actually protecting the country. As a high school student, it’s upsetting to see leaders try to change something that’s always been a basic right for people born here. i
It is very interesting to me how many conservatives like the idea of a strict interpretation of the constitution, and yet it is only when it comes to things like states rights or gun ownership. If it is immigration, they seem all in favor of things being interpreted differently or rewritten. It would be a terrible to see this idea take effect both for the families/people impacted and for our economy.
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